South Lake Tahoe, California – The body of the last person missing from a boat that sank on Lake Tahoe in California during a sudden and severe weekend thunderstorm was discovered Monday, bringing the total death toll to eight.
Ten people were on board the 27-foot (8-meter) gold Chris-Craft boat when it flipped Saturday afternoon at D.L. Bliss State Park on the lake’s southwest shore as the storm churned up heavy waves, according to US Coast Guard officials.
Two persons were promptly rescued and transported to a hospital in uncertain conditions. Six remains were recovered later Saturday, and a seventh was discovered Sunday evening, according to the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office. Divers explored an area of Lake Tahoe and discovered the last body Monday afternoon.
Sgt. Kyle Parker said the victims’ names would not be disclosed until family members were notified.
Drowning and other unintentional deaths have happened on the lake in recent years, but watercraft accidents resulting in many fatalities are uncommon. The South Lake Tahoe Police Department told KCRA-TV that there are an average of six deaths on the lake each summer, with a record 15 fatalities in 2021. The department could not immediately give updated figures.
The severity of the thunderstorm stunned even forecasters, who had expected some rain but nothing like the squall that pummeled the southern part of the lake around 3 p.m., according to meteorologist Matthew Chyba of the National Weather Service in Reno, Nevada. Winds reached 35 mph (56 kph), and waves grew to more than 8 feet (2.5 meters).
“We weren’t expecting it to be so strong,” Chyba explained.
He added temperatures in the area were significantly lower than average for this time of year, which could have contributed to the unstable air mass.
Eight-foot waves on Tahoe are “pretty significant,” Chyba added. “They were really rocking the lake.”
Lake Tahoe is a popular summer recreation spot for boaters, kayakers, and paddleboarders. The pristine lake with extremely cold water spans California and Nevada and is one of the deepest in the country, second only to Oregon’s Crater Lake.
Officials have not revealed any information on the group on the capsized boat, or whether it was rented or owned.
Saturday’s storm passed in approximately two hours.
Brittany Glick was on a leased pontoon boat with seven people on Saturday, enjoying a friend’s bachelorette celebration, when the wind picked up and the waves grew larger. The day began sunny, but then the temperature fell and there was almost no visibility, Glick said Monday.
“It felt like we were in the midst of an impending tsunami. “I’ve never had an experience like that,” she added.
As the boat approached the dock after nearly an hour of maneuvering increasingly turbulent waters and drenching the passengers, it began to hail.
“We were shaken up seeing all the boats flipped,” Glick told me. “And being bathed in that water made us really cold. We shook uncontrollably. Our feet were numb, and our toes turned blue. That was undoubtedly one of the most terrifying experiences I’ve had in my 30 years. The storm moved in so quickly. “It was terrifying.”
KCRA-TV received video of moored boats colliding at a neighboring port due to heavy winds.
